You built a business for freedom. Why does everything depend on you?
The decisions. The problems. The things nobody else quite knows how to handle.
Keith Trubshaw knows that seat. He has built businesses, experienced success and failure, and felt the weight of being the person everyone turns to.
In Finding Freedom, Keith Trubshaw writes honestly about the responsibility, isolation and lost freedom that can come with being the boss.
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You started a business for freedom. How’s that going?
Being the boss can be deeply rewarding. It can also mean carrying decisions, worries and responsibilities that few people around you ever see. Keith calls it the Lonely Seat.
The difficult decisions end with you.
You can listen to advice and involve your team. But when a decision affects the business and the people depending on it, the final responsibility is yours.
You’re needed. But are you known?
People come to you for answers, approval and reassurance. There can be little room to admit that you have questions and doubts of your own.
The working day follows you home.
You’re at the dinner table, but your mind is still working through tomorrow’s problems. Leaving the office doesn’t always mean leaving the responsibility behind.
There’s more to protect, and less room to enjoy it.
What began as the excitement of building something becomes the daily work of keeping it safe. The freedom you imagined quietly moves further away.
“
But here’s the thing, now you are the upstairs.
KEITH TRUBSHAW · FINDING FREEDOM, CHAPTER ONE
Keith Trubshaw
Finding Freedom: The Lonely Seat
Keith knows that Seat
He started his first enterprise while still at school and went on to build businesses through success, recession and failure. Some lessons came quickly. Others took years of hindsight.
In Finding Freedom, he brings that experience to an honest conversation about the person behind the business and what it feels like to carry the weight.
Take a moment for the person carrying it all.
Start with Chapter 1, “You are ‘the upstairs’ now,” and see what feels familiar.
Inside Your Free Chapter
Chapter One: You are “the upstairs” now
What changes when you become the person with the final responsibility? Keith explores the everyday reality of being the boss and how the freedom you worked towards can gradually slip away.
Why every problem seems to land on your desk
The questions your team can’t answer become yours to resolve. Keith reflects on how that transfer of responsibility slowly takes over your day.
Why familiar relationships can feel different
Becoming the boss can create distance between you and the colleagues you once spoke freely with even when you still work alongside them.
How responsibility can leave you feeling alone
Others can offer advice, but the consequences still rest with you. Keith gives a name to that experience: the Lonely Seat
Where the freedom you imagined went
You started with ambition, optimism, and plans for a different life. Somewhere along the way, the business began asking for more of you.
When protecting the business replaces the joy of building it
As you gain more to lose, defending what you’ve built can consume the time and energy you once spent creating something new.
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✦ BEYOND CHAPTER 1 · A LOOK INSIDE THE FULL BOOK
The Conversations Behind the Lonely Seat
Through honest stories and fireside reflections, Keith explores what it costs to carry the responsibility—and what it means to include yourself in the life you’ve built.
BEING THE BOSS
CHAPTER 3
Everyone needs you. But who knows you?
People know what you can do for them. Keith explores what happens when being needed leaves little room for being known as a person.
BEYOND THE ROLE
CHAPTER 8
Who are you without the pressure?
Slowing down can feel unsettling when you’ve spent years being the person who holds everything together. Who are you when nobody needs an answer?
ROOM TO BREATHE
CHAPTER 9
The fireside is not a fix
Keith reflects on the value of being heard without having to perform, explain everything or immediately turn your feelings into another problem to solve.
SUCCESS THAT INCLUDES YOU
CHAPTER 12
What about the life you’re building ?
What does success mean when you include your energy, relationships and enjoyment of life alongside the business you’ve worked so hard to build?
Start the conversation with chapter 1
Get the free opening chapter of Finding Freedom: Surviving The Lonely Seat delivered to your inbox.
Meet KEITH TRUBSHAW
Someone who knows the seat you’re sitting in.
Keith started his first enterprise while still at school. By his late twenties, he had built a successful business against the tide of recession.
More businesses followed. Some succeeded. Others failed. Each brought lessons some clear at the time, others understood only years later.
That experience shapes his writing: candid about the mistakes, the responsibility and the personal cost of being the boss.
In Finding Freedom, Keith brings those reflections into a fireside conversation with readers who may recognise the same pressures in their own lives.
Beyond business and writing, he is an accomplished musician a reminder that there is a person beyond the role.
Keith Trubshaw
SERIAL ENTREPRENEUR • WRITER • CEO MENTOR
"This book isn’t going to try to fix you"
What readers say about The Lonely Seat
Reader reviews of Keith Trubshaw’s earlier book, The Lonely Seat. Shared here as an introduction to his writing.
★★★★★
”
“Keith has managed to organize his successes and failures into a lighthearted and inspiring tale.”
"He emphasizes appreciating the low points in order to foster gratitude for the high points, and it's a lesson that everyone should integrate into their own lives. Business - like life - requires empathy and thoughtfulness, and Keith is a shining example of it."
Jenna
Amazon review of The Lonely Seat
✓ Verified
★★★★★
”
“Keith’s writing style is personal and engaging. It’s like literally being beside him as he shares story after story.”
"Overall, "The Lonely Seat" is an inspiring and uplifting read that will resonate with all of us who have faced adversity. It's a reminder that with resilience, determination, and a positive attitude, anything is possible."
Eleanor Vance
Amazon review of The Lonely Seat
✓ Verified
★★★★★
”
"Unexpectedly profound"
"A very honest account of the life of a serial entrepreneur and the highs and lows of running a business. Through Keith’s successes and failures he imparts some invaluable advice. I wish I’d had a chance to read this 30 years ago."
Sarah Fergusson
Amazon review of The Lonely Seat
✓ Verified
4.9 out of 5 Stars • Based on 350+ Founder & Executive Early Readers • 100% Unvarnished Truth
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From the Author
A free preview of Finding Freedom: Surviving The Lonely Seat by Keith Trubshaw, publishing 31 October 2026.
Written for Business Owners
For founders and business owners who carry final responsibility, and sometimes carry it alone.
© 2026 Keith Trubshaw · The Lonely Seat. All rights reserved.
Finding Freedom shares the author's personal experience and is not legal, financial, or professional advice.